September 23, 2006
Ahh... a nice relaxing day at home. This introvert needs to take a break from the hustle and bustle of life! The parents were out during the morning, so I got to blast some tunes loud while they were gone. That Sufjan Stevens... so nice. On this first day of fall, I packed away the summer clothes to the tunes of Falling Up, and caught up to about June in my e-mail while listening my emusic downloads. And somewhere in between, I stick up the Make Poverty History banner.I've been thinking about my desire to drink out of a chalice, but only getting this spouted juice cup instead. It certainly is easy to look at the vessle and shake my head, but of course, it's the wine inside that counts. God could very well serve the wine in the juice cup. Perhaps I still need to take that first sip out of the cup. And cast aside all those comments about the juice cup from others.
Well, in reality, my daily chalice is Augustine's The Confessions, which I'm nearly done (after, what, 8 months?). It's an awesome book - y'all should definitely read it. Of course, the juice cup is Purpose Driven Life. I guess the material isn't as fresh as it used to be since I've read it before, and I've taken some of what Rick Warren writes to heart. Still, it's good to be reminded.
Gonna do some phone calls now, maybe some cards too. Take care!
September 14, 2006
As they say in Marathon, Ontario, "how shhe go dar by?" (Craig insists on two h's) As in, how are you? Work is going well. A little slow going, but I know I'll long for these slow days all too soon.Well, then. PDL is keeping me busy. Really busy. Super busy. I wish I a) had more hours in the day and b) required less sleep in the day. But it's still all good to partner with God in His work. It's scary to not know the end result, but I think it'll work out in the end (as all His plans do). Everything unfolds beautifully in His time, right?
In terms of school, they FINALLY posted the PSYCH 465 application forms, which leaves me scrambling to get a work reference. Hopefully I'll hear a reply from one of my former employers soon! I guess it'll be okay to ask Neil as well. I'll find that out by tomorrow. And darn it all, I have to fax it in on Monday because I certainly won't have it done by tomorrow (although I could just take lunch and do it this time...). We'll see.
Oh! I got my Waking Ashland's I Am For You EP finally! It's punkier and slightly louder... somewhat different from the other 2 albums I have of theirs. The longer version of "Long Shot" is kinda nicer, and I liked the "Charity" track. They are more polished now, and also a little more grown-up sounding. Good stuff.
That's about it. Nothing too interesting. Just me waiting for God to reveal what He has in store this term.
SONG OF THE MOMENT
We'll do it all - everything on our own
We don't need anything or anyone
If I lay here
If I just lay here
Would you lie with me and just forget the world?I don't quite know
How to say
How I feelThose three words
Are said too much
They're not enoughIf I lay here
If I just lay here
Would you lie with me and just forget the world?Forget what we're told
Before we get too old
Show me a garden that's bursting into lifeLet's waste time chasing cars around our heads
I need your grace to remind me to find my own
If I lay here
If I just lay here
Would you lie with me and just forget the world?Forget what we're told
Before we get too old
Show me a garden that's bursting into lifeAll that I am
All that I ever was
Is here in your perfect eyes, they're all I can seeI don't know where
Confused about how as well
Just know that these things will never change for us at allIf I lay here
If I just lay here
Would you lie with me and just forget the world?"Chasing Cars," Snow Patrol (from Eyes Open)
Ever the one to be late on the popular trends, here I am, obsessing with this lovely little song. I can imagine them playing it on the Grey's Anatomy season finale, although I don't even watch Grey's Anatomy (well... okay... maybe 10 minutes?). Hear it on Snow Patrol's myspace or purevolume. I'll buy it eventually. Maybe next year. After Europe.September 8, 2006
Off to a great start for my work term. I think it's the most comfortable first few days at work EVER. Praise God! The confidence definitely comes from knowing what I'm doing (unlike the previous two terms which were brand new roles), and from the team being so fun. The free burgers from orientation helped greatly. I hope this is how it's going to be for the rest of the term.I brought my Seneca materials to look through at work, and came across these deranged minutes that I wrote for one of the tutor meetings, which were titled "The Tale of the Fourteen Brave Ones," written in the style of Lord of the Rings. I wonder if Winston still has them on file? I made myself laugh (on the inside) with this line: "They moved on to recount the fabled tale of the Battle of the Time Sheets in preparation for the much-dreaded war of the protocols." Those time sheets proved that I do indeed suck at even simple math. Not good.
Anyway, I had a good time with Kim and Yunping today at Second Cup. Thanks Yunping for the ride to my car in the pouring rain! I'm looking forward to hanging out more in PDL. :o)
Oh yeah, PDL! All y'all in 'sauga are most welcome to come to the Tuesday PDL group at my house! If you're already in my group, feel free to bring a friend! Starts at 6:30pm this coming Tuesday, with dinner included. Bring forth your appetites! Haha... when I go grocery shopping for PDL, I keep thinking Alpha. Alpha certainly set the precedent for what I'm doing now. Go Alpha! Now I need a slogan for PDL... hmm...
September 6, 2006
First day of work at Sheridan today. I know at least three people who went to Sheridan (Ceci, Ava, Keriann), and none of them are there anymore. :oP If you ever want to find me there, go to the Career Centre in the Trafalgar Campus! It was pretty fun... Neil and Clair are fun people. Neil gave me a figurative gold star for asking good questions, but a black spot for buying (crappy) coffee from the caf. You win some, you lose some. I'll be meeting Craig the math tutor tomorrow. And attending student orientation sessions too. Heehee.I'm FINALLY done with emusic.com! Well... okay... it's only been like 2 days. What began as a search for All Together Separate's "Paradigm" turned into a eyeball-hurting search for 24 tracks. Emusic sucks, in my opinion. I suppose it's indie in the wrong way for me (whatever that means). They also have virtually no popular artists that I like. But hey, at least I got "Paradigm" for free. It's about the only service that has that song, so it's got some merits. But hey, if you're in the market for 25 random free songs downloaded legally, check out emusic.
Here are my new tracks:
- All Together Separate - Paradigm
- Arcade Fire - Rebellion (Lies)
- Arcade Fire - Wake Up
- Benny Goodman - Sing Sing Sing (one of my favourite swing numbers)
- Chris Rice - And Your Praise Goes On (mmmm... now I don't need to actual album)
- Chris Rice - Prone to Wander
- Chris Rice - Smellin' Coffee
- Counting Crows - Mr. Jones (Live)
- Default - Live a Lie
- Default - Wasting My Time (Acoustic) (desperate - I bought the "normal" version already)
- Ginny Owens - If You Want Me To (Live)
- John Denver - Take Me Home, Country Roads
- Leigh Nash - Ocean Size Love
- Louis Armstrong - What A Wonderful World
- Moby - Porcelain
- Moby - South Side
- Relient K - Manic Monday (their version is so them!)
- Sarah McLachlan - Shelter (she's a safe random pick... right?)
- Sarah McLachlan - Stupid (Dusted Mix)
- Sense Field - I Refuse (I got this free once... wait! it's still free this time!)
- Sloan - The Other Man
- Sloan - The Rest of My Life (favourite line: "I know that I'll be living it in Canada")
- Sufjan Stevens - To Be Alone With You (REALLY random... might as well as jump on the Sufjan bandwagon)
- The Negro Problem - Bleed (accidental happy find! gorgeous song played on Third Watch a loooooong time ago)
- The Presidents of the United States of America - Peaches (pretty random, pretty fun)
Pretty strange and deranged mix of songs. Oh well. I don't think I'll ever subscribe to a music file downloading service... I'll just buy tracks separately. I still like my CDs myself. :oP Now I gotta sit down and figure how to mix and match these songs into a few nice little mixed CDs..
SONG OF THE MOMENT
Everybody loves a rose
But will you be thankful for the thorns?
Love is easy when you're loved
But do you curse another when you're alone?Oh, I give my life to You so I can gain it back again
Oh, I stand solid while the paradigm is shiftingYou say live and let live
But people are dying everyday
And you say what I don't know won't hurt me
But if what I do not know is the very thing I need
Then I sayHumanity sees truth through a shattered window pane
That blocks the view
And plants the seed
So we draw the curtains to close but I say
That the sun can still shine behind a closed mind
And sticks and stones do hurt
When tossed from the tongue of mankind"Paradigm," All Together Separate (from their self-titled debut)
This is very true of our generation... especially of church folks. Makes me wonder why God would ever choose such flawed people, those that both block the view and plant the seed, to do His works. He's a crazy God, you know?September 2, 2006
Here are a few choice quotes from Jacob Marshall, the drummer of Mae (and proclaimed "band intellectual"). These are from an interview posted at lowercase people. I guess the way he looks at the world rings true with me, at least in some ways. Obviously, my experiences have been felt by others."And sometimes, honestly, it takes seeing something that�s broken to know how to fix it and know how to take steps towards fixing it. Especially within the church. You see how the politics and the finances and the buildings and structure just eats away at the fundamental purpose of what people initially got together for."
"We make music to make a living and to express ourselves but my faith isn�t for sale. I want there to be a difference."
[About secular/Christian music comparison charts, and the Christian music industry.] "It�s like Pearl Jam Lite or Diet Nirvana. You know it�s not going to be the same because what [Pearl Jam and Nirvana] were trying to do as musicians is express something that they feel inside. What the Christian industry does a lot of times is take that formula: 'Ok well, they�re playing these riffs and this dynamic or whatever so let�s do that and just put Christian lyrics over top of it.' There�s something disingenuous about that and people outside of that world can see it but people inside don�t really care about it because it�s more important to them to have lyrics that are comfortable. It�s comfortable, there�s no challenge to see a different perspective or to understand somebody�s pain or someone�s despair, somebody�s rage even. There are these valid emotions that people feel and express in through music�you know, that�s their story, that�s what they�re trying to say."
"I think, unfortunately, the by-product of even the way the church itself is run�you speak from the pulpit, this is how it�s done, this is how it�s not done instead of teaching how to come to that place and make a decision on your own, how to walk into a grey area and try to discern black from white, a truth from a lie. That ability to discern is, I think, a lot more important."
September 1, 2006
A new month already. August just melted by, it seems. Do I wish it was longer? Not really. Never liked these transition periods myself. Anyway, September will bring lots of new beginnings - new job, new small group, new JOY, new routine at home...Not much else to say. So just watch a live acoustic version of Anberlin's "Paperthin Hymn" and enjoy what's left of the summer. And since I'm actually typing this in the last hour of August: "August evenings bring solemn warnings to remember to kiss the ones you love goodnight..."